Self sustained system for sorbent production

ABSTRACT

A self sustained system for sorbent production includes a thermal reactor for pyrolytic decomposing organic waste material in order to generate synthetic gases and sorbents; sorbent and gas separation unit; gas cleaning unit and gas turbine, supplying energy back to the system. Rice husk is fed continuously into a thermal reactor at a controlled feed rate. The plasma torch is used to heat the reactor to a sufficient temperature, as to convert the rice husk ‘feed’ material to a synthetic gas and solid carbon rich sorbent. Oxygen and steam are added in control quantities to optimize efficiency of production of synthetic gas composition and sorbent quality. The synthetic gas is directed through a heat exchanger, where heat is extracted for producing the process steam. Cooled synthetic gas is used to power a gas turbine as a fuel to produce electricity. In one embodiment the waste material is a rice husk. The sorbent(s) can be applied to oil/water separation process and can absorb oil 5 to 10 times its own weight. The sorbent(s) can be re-used after extracting absorbed oil. The sorbent is also effective for waste water cleaning and filtering heavy metals.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/135,792 filed on Jul. 15, 2011, which claims the priority benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/400,825 filed on Aug. 4, 2010.These and all other referenced patents and applications are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system for carbon based sorbent productionfrom organic waste, particular rice husk, by means of gasification andpyrolysis utilizing thermal and plasma heating technology.

BACKGROUND

Approximately 50% of rice husk is now recycled into various by-productsand while a significant number, there still exist unused. A special ricehusk combustion unit generates steam and the rice husk ash is separatedin hoppers. It is well known that rice husk content a high concentrationof silica, generally more than 22%, and is unusually high in ash, whichis more than 90% wt. Silica. This makes difficulties to use rice husk incombustion process in order to generate heat efficiently. Rice husk isalso used as a fuel for boiling brine to produce NaCl salt, but itsresidue is costly to dispose of. The rice husk ash and rice husk blendedwith a Portland cement used to improve the quality of brine and bitters.The non-crystalline silica and high specific surface area of the ricehusk ash are responsible for its high pozzolanic reactivity and has beenused in lime-pozzolana mixes and could be a suitable partly replacementfor Portland cement [1]. The rice husk can be converted to a useful formof energy. For example, the rice husk pyrolysis has been conducted in afixed bed reactor [2]. Pyrolysis experiments were performed attemperature between 400 and 600 C. The goal was to obtain the highestliquid yield of 31.78% wt. at pyrolysis temperature 500 C and particlesize 1.18 to 1.80 mm. Combustion and gasification of rice husk influidized bed reactors [3] is inefficient or unsuitable for energyconversion due to high ash content, low bulk density, poor flowcharacteristics and low ash melting point. Typically under the bestoperating conditions the gasification efficiency is around 65%. Fewdifferent methods exist for preparation of powdered activated carbonfrom rice husk [4, 5]. A drop-tube/fixed-bed reactor [4] experimentaldata show that rice husk containing a relatively high lignin content,had the lowest pyrolysis rate. Ash content was about 17.9% wt. Open corethroat-less batch fed rice husk gasifier reactors was study forgasification efficiency and scaling factors [5].The parameters of theprocess were optimized specifically for this type of reactor. Most ofthe plasma gasification systems are based on arc plasma discharge [6,7]. Disadvantage of this type of plasma system are: short life ofelectrodes due to erosion; high temperature non-uniform plasma arc,which makes difficulties to control process temperature; low efficiencyfor in-flight powder treatment. A continuing need exist for a system bywhich the rice husk could be effectively convert into absorbent and thegenerated synthetic gas could be used for powering the system. Thisobjective is achieved by using the thermal heating of rice husk in gasplasma contained atmosphere, precipitating a solid material resultingfrom pyrolytic reaction; cooling the interaction product: sorbent andsynthetic gas; collecting the solid product; and using the synthetic gasfor power generation for the system or for direct heating of the reactorby combustion of the synthetic gas.

In a presently preferred form of the invention, the rice husk isintroduced into the plasma discharge in a flow of carrier gas. Theplasma discharge is generated in a reactor chamber having a longitudinalaxis between an inlet end and outlet end, and a plasma gas mixturecirculates in the reactor chamber in a reciprocal flow pattern with azone of substantially axial flow of the mixture in the chamber. The ricehusk is preferably fed into the plasma discharge stream in or near thiszone at a rate such that the rice husk will be completely carbonized andonly solid and gas products will be generate. The plasma flow upstreamof the plasma discharge is subjected to rapid cooling, which causesprecipitation of solid component of the reaction products in the form ofa fine carbon chips. The solid product (sorbent) is collected, but thegas product (synthetic gas) is transported to gas liquation unit forfuture use in gas turbine for power production. The system of thisinvention maybe carried out in an apparatus which includes a highfrequency plasma torch of either the induction or capacitive type forgenerating a plasma discharge in oxygen free gas environment. A vortexgenerator mounted at an inlet of the plasma chamber introduces theplasma gas and creates the reciprocal flow pattern with the zone ofaxial flow of the plasma gas in the reactor. A quenching unit may takevarious forms. In a first form the quenching unit injects the coolantfluid into the plasma flow upstream of the plasma discharge. In a secondform the quenching unit includes a cold surface disposed for collectingsolid reaction product flowing from the outlet end of the reactor. Thisand other features and advantages of the improved plasma system forpracticing the same will be better understood from the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a self-sustained system for sorbentproduction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a self-sustainedsystem for sorbent production, constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. The waste organic material enters the feeding system,which includes a feed conveyor and digital feeder (for example, K-Tronmodel 304 Dual Drive). The feeding system delivers waste organicmaterial to the thermal reactor. A small amount of carrier gas isapplied. Thermal reactor includes a thermal plasma torch, reactoritself, airlock valve, and container and off—gas exhaust pipe. RF plasmamodule includes a DC power supply, oscillator and plasma torch. Theoscillator working frequency is in the range of 60 kHz to 40.68 MHz. Thetemperature within the plasma stream of the plasma torch is normallygreater than 2700 C, typically at least 3900 C, and usually about 4800to 5300 degrees C. range; with temperature in excess of about 6400degrees C. being acceptable for usage in the inventive process andsystem. Plasma having temperature and uniform stream velocity profileeffective for the present purpose maybe generated by any suitableradio-frequency plasma torch. The reaction pressure may vary widely andmaybe sub-atmospheric, atmospheric or super atmospheric; typicallyatmospheric for ease operation. The waste organic material feed rate tothe plasma stream is not a critical aspect of the inventive process andsystem. Typically and depending upon the particular torch beingemployed, the rate at which the waste organic material is introducedinto plasma environment or stream, is generally in the range of from 100kg/Hr to 1000 kg/Hr, usually between 200 to 500 kg/Hr. Depending uponthe temperature of the plasma stream and waste organic material flow,the processing time of the waste organic material within plasma zone canbe relatively short. Processing time is the time need it to heat thematerial up to 740 C. This temperature is enough to convert wasteorganic material into sorbent and efficiently generates synthetic gasfrom organic components. In general the higher the temperature theshorter he residence time; normally in the range of about 10-1 second to10-5 second, typically 1×10-2 to 2×10-3 second. By employing suitablecombinations of organic waste material feed rate, plasma temperature andprocessing time, the inventive process and system can be tailored toobtain optimal result. In other embodiment of the invention, a product,which was obtained by cooling or quenching of the processed wasteorganic material, can be separated into solid and gas components. By“quenching” it meant that the plasma stream is cooled at rate of atleast about 1×103 K/sec, e.g. from 1×103 to 1×105 K/sec. The plasmaprocessed material is quenched by using the cold gas, atomized water orcold surface. The solid part of the processed material drops to thebottom of the reactor and moves to the container through the airlockvalve. Off gas includes plasma gas and generated gas. The exhaust isdirected to the gas cleaning/cooling unit. This unit preferably includesthree filter stages: a continuous cleaning dust filter, a NEPApre-filter, charcoal filter, wet scrubber and a heat exchanger. Thesefilters remove particulates from the gas stream and cooled down the gas.The effectiveness of the various air control devices is preferably: fordust filter 90% removal of particles bigger than 10 microns; HEPApre-filter 95% >5 micron; charcoal filter 99.999%>0.12 microns.Synthetic gas is directed to power gas turbine for power generation. Thepreferred waste organic material for sorbent production is rice husk.The sorbent, having highest efficiency, should have the organic matrixwith multi-dimensional porous structure and with uniform distribution ofmineral component and pores sizes from 2 to 35 micrometers (mcm). Forexample, the preferred pores size distribution is as follow: 2 to 20mcm—63 to 66%; 20 to 30 mcm—26 to 37%; and 30 to 35 mcm—2 to 8%. Ricehusk is a waste material from agriculture industry and only a portion ofrice husk is recycled. This makes additional economical benefits. Theproperties described above could be obtained during the thermal plasmatreatment. The process average temperature should be in the range of 520to 740 C in order to maximize the quantity of the closed pores in theproduct. The closed pores are pores, which are not open for the otherpores and are located in the middle of the absorbent. These closed poressubstantially increase the sorption properties. The advantages of thissorbent are high absorption capacity, also due to creation of the rightratio between organic component and carbon, which is in the range f1:18. Composition of the obtained sorbent is as follow: 92.5% —SiO2;K2O—4.1%; P2O5—0.8%; CaO—1.2%; other—1.4%. If the process temperature ishigher than 740 C (as typical pyrolysis technologies are used) the fulldecomposition of the organic components of the rice husk could beachieved, which substantially decrease the absorption properties of thesorbent, because the absorption is due only to the carbon. In case oflower process temperature (less than 520 C) the micro-porous structureof the product does not have the right pores size distribution (seeabove) and the absorption properties of the product are substantiallylow. During the plasma pyrolysis of the rice husk the followingcomponents are generated: sorbent (product)—34% (includes 3% of carbon)and combustible gas 66% (include 48% of synthetic gas, 11% of methane).The metal species, as K, Ca, etc., which are abundant in rice husk,favors the formation of gas and solid product, while depressing theformation of liquid (oil). All combustible gas (average heating value isaround 4 to 6 MJ/m3) are transported to the gas cleaning unit and isused for power generation by gas turbine.

EXAMPLES

Example 1. A plasma discharge chamber having an inside diameter of 70 mmwas provided. High voltage at a frequency 1.76 MHz with the input power16 kW was supply to the inductive coil of the plasma torch. Argon wasintroduced into the discharge chamber through the vortex generator.Argon was used as a plasma gas only for start of plasma. After plasmawas ignited the argon gas was replaced by portion of the combustion gasmixture from the pyrolysis process and a stable operating regime of theRF generator powering the plasma torch is maintained. The initialmaterial—rice husk, was fed from the metering dispenser into the plasmajet, where it is subjected to temperatures in the order of 5000 degrees.The dwell time for rice husk is short enough in order to heat thematerial not higher than 740 C. The processing time is controlled bycarrier gas flow and the velocity of the plasma jet. In this particularexample, rice husk of 2 to 5 mm in size fed at the rate of 400 g/min.Carbonization of rice husk commenced in the plasma jet itself and wascompleted at the end of the stream. The quenching device was installedat this very point of the flow path just upstream of the point wheresorbent was formed. The rapid cooling fixes the structure of the solidproduct, which is collected in suitable container. The combustion gas,generated during the heating of rice husk, was directed to the gascleaning unit and gas collector. As a result of the plasma process thesorbents and synthetic gas were obtained. Average size of the solidproduct is about 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Total collected combustion gas productwas 0.5 m3/min. Typical heat value of the combustion gas is 5MJ/m3.Thus, we could generate at least 20 kW power by using gas turbine,having 40% efficiency. This power is enough to cover all power needs forthe processing unit. Obtained sorbent has the following parameters: bulkdensity—0.13 g/cm3; surface area—560 m2/g. Absorbent picks 5 to 10 timesits own weight in oil, without absorbing water. The absorbent flow onthe top of water surface even if it is saturated with oil or otherhazardous substances. In case of using for the waste water treatment,the sorbent is capable to decrease hydrocarbons contamination from 60mg/l to 0.03 mg/l at flow 150 ml/min. The absorption time is 10 to 20minutes.

Example 2. The plasma system was modified in order to generatecapacitive plasma discharge. High voltage at frequency 13.56 MHz with aplasma discharge power was supplied to the external electrodes. Heliumwas used for pre-ionization and after plasma ignition was replaced bynitrogen. The power of the capacitive plasma discharge was establishedat 10 kW and the 3400 C average temperature of the plasma environment inthe reactor was achieved. The dwell time for rice husk is similar to theinduction plasma discharge, so the material was heat higher than 740 C.The processing time is controlled by carrier gas flow and the velocityof the plasma jet. In this particular example, rice husk of 2 to 5 mm insize fed at the rate of 250 g/min. Carbonization of rice husk commencedin the plasma jet itself and was completed at the end of the stream. Thequenching device was installed at this very point of the flow path justupstream of the point where sorbent was formed. The rapid cooling fixesthe structure of the solid product, which is collected in suitablecontainer. The combustion gas, generated during the heating of ricehusk, was directed to the gas cleaning unit and gas collector. As aresult of the plasma process the sorbents and synthetic gas wereobtained. Average size of the solid product is about 0.1 to 0.5 mm.Total collected combustion gas product was 0.31 m3/min. Typical heatvalue of the combustion gas is 5 MJ/m3.Thus, we could generate at least13 kW power by using gas turbine, having 40% efficiency. This power isenough to cover all power needs for the processing unit. Obtainedsorbent has the following parameters: bulk density—0.13 g/cm3; surfacearea—560 m2/g. Absorbent picks 5 to 10 times its own weight in oil,without absorbing water. The absorbent flow on the top of water surfaceeven if it is saturated with oil or other hazardous substances.Experimental data (oil concentration after treatment, mg/l) related tothe oil absorption is presented in the following table for differentsorbent quantity (from 0.5 to 3.0 gr.) and different oil concentration(from 10 to 40 g/l):

Sorbent quantity, g Oil Concentration, mg/l 3.0 2.0 1.5 1.0 1.5 10 n/a0.019 0.028 0.036 0.051 30 0.021 0.042 0.053 0.085 0.091 40 0.034 0.070.083 n/a n/a

What is claimed is:
 1. A self sustained method for sorbent production,comprising the steps of: generating high frequency plasma discharge in agas mixture, said plasma discharge having a high temperature plasma jetand producing a flow of plasma upstream of said plasma discharge;introducing organic waste material into the plasma jet at a rateconductive to heating to desired temperature of said material in saidplasma discharge; rapidly cooling the reaction products resulting frominteraction of said organic waste material with said plasma stream;separate solid product from gaseous product; use gaseous product forpower generation for the said plasma discharge.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein thermal plasma is generated by induction plasma torch.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein non-thermal plasma is generated by capacitiveplasma torch
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein source for plasma gas isthe portion of the generated combustion gas mixture.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said organic waste material is rice husk.
 6. The methodof claim 1 wherein said organic waste material is carried into saidplasma in a flow of carrier gas.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein saidcarrier gas is nitrogen gas.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said stepof introducing comprises the step of introducing a cooled probe intosaid plasma stream and introducing said organic waste material throughsaid probe.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein said step of introducingcomprises the step of adjusting the position of said probe within saidplasma stream thereby to maximize the production rate.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said step of rapidly cooling product reaction comprisescooling by exposure to cold surface
 11. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid step of rapidly cooling product reaction comprises cooling byexposure of cold water.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein said step ofrapidly cooling product reaction comprises cooling by exposure to coldgas.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the plasma is generated in acylindrical vessel comprising: (i) a plasma jet; (ii) a cooling zonedownstream of said plasma jet adapted to cool the products; (iii) acontainer for collecting solid product from the vessel; and (iv) a gascollector for collecting the gas product from vessel.
 14. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the cooling zone comprises a jacketed section of saidvessel in association with means for circulating cooling fluids throughthe jacketed section;
 15. The method of claim 1 further comprising thestep of cleaning the gas product
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein thegas product is used as a fuel for gas electric turbine.
 17. The methodof claim 14, further comprising the step of circulating cooling fluidsthrough the jacketed section.